Ichthyosaur Mass Grave

Ichthyosaur mass grave found, according to reports in ScienceDaily 3 June 2014 and Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2014; DOI: 10.1130/B30964.1. Scientists from Germany and Chile have found 46 almost complete Ichthyosaurs buried in Early Cretaceous rocks near the Tyndall Glacier in the Torres del Paine National Park of southern Chile. The fossils are a mix of juveniles and adults, including pregnant females, and are articulated, i.e. their bones are all together in the right places. According to the researchers, “Preservation is excellent and occasionally includes soft tissue and embryos”.

They also found ammonites (nautilus type shells), belemnites (extinct squid-like creatures), clams and fishes, as well as numerous plant remains, in the same rock formation. The research team explain the fossil deposit as follows: “The abundance of almost completely articulated Ichthyosaur skeletons in the Tyndall area suggests that some animals fell victim to episodic mass-mortality events caused by turbidity currents traveling downslope through a submarine canyon. They lost orientation, drowned, and were dragged into the deep sea by these turbulent high-energy gravity flows. Their bodies ended up in an oxygen-deficient basin environment where they were immediately embedded by the fine turbidite suspension fallout”.

Editorial Comment: A “turbulent high energy gravity flow” is a rapid, catastrophic process, and it is good to see scientists admit that in order for excellently preserved fossils to be formed they had to be “immediately embedded” in an environment deficient in oxygen. However the use of the word “episodic” indicates they are still not prepared to believe in one big catastrophe, such as Noah’s Flood, in addition to the continuing smaller catastrophes we still experience under the ocean. This is not because of lack of evidence, but because even secular scientists realise that mentioning a single world-wide flood makes people think of God’s judgement on sin in Noah’s day. However, the saddest aspect of denying Noah’s flood is that people forget this is also an event of salvation for those who obeyed God, which pre-pictures the salvation available through Jesus Christ. (Ref. catastrophism, sedimentation, marine reptiles)